Promoting digital agricultural innovation in Africa
Project description
Title: Scaling digital agriculture innovations through start-ups (SAIS)
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Co-funded by: Bayer Cares Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Country: Global (Africa)
Overall term: 2019 to 2027
Context
The agricultural and food industry is a crucial sector of the economy in many African countries. Particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, it has the potential to promote economic development and generate income.
Innovative solutions are the key to boosting productivity, income and employment. With their digital innovations, young companies often address well-known industry problems. They advise small farmers, facilitate market access, improve cultivation and harvesting methods, organise storage, logistics and processing, or make financial services available to the rural population.
However, despite beneficial innovations, most start-ups fail to achieve their full potential. The solutions developed reach only a limited number of users.
Objective
Proven digital innovations for the agricultural and food sector have been distributed in selected markets and are generating income.
Approach
The project operates in three fields of activity:
- It identifies start-ups across Africa that provide digital innovations for the agricultural and food sector but have not yet achieved growth.
- It develops the management and technological skills of the start-ups to make them more attractive to investors.
- For promising start-ups, the project facilitates investments and partnerships for growth.
The Bayer Cares Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are cofinancing the project. Additional cooperation partners include Melanin Kapital, Startup Wise Guys, Flat6Labs, Garage48, 60 Decibels, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, ETH Zürich, University of Oxford and MaibornWolff.
The project contributes to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals from the United Nations 2030 Agenda. The focus is in improving income. In addition, the project contributes to achieving gender equality, ensuring decent work and economic growth, and supporting innovation.
Last update: March 2024
